Captain comeback: Dhoni’s ODI team looks the opposite of the one that got walloped in Tests

They couldn’t bat, bowl or field in the Tests but M S Dhoni’s cricket team has emphatically turned the tables on England in the one-day series. Alastair Cook’s Englishmen look as clueless now as Dhoni’s men looked in the longer version of the game. By steamrolling England so comprehensively, Dhoni has not only taken India back to numero uno status in the ODI rankings, he is also now India’s most successful ODI captain — edging past Mohammad Azharuddin — with 91 victories to his credit.

Just last month Indian cricket fans were baying for Dhoni’s blood and the team seemed to have lost its will to compete. What changed? First, India is a much better ODI team than a Test outfit. Second, Dhoni himself is much more comfortable in the shorter form of the game where he truly comes alive as a deft tactician and an instinctive cricketing brain. Third, many of his key players like Ravindra Jadeja — who looked so harmless in Test whites — get transformed into tigers in ODI blues.

Perhaps it is a confidence thing. Having cut their teeth on T20s and ODIs, India’s Gen Next is much more comfortable in the racy instinctual excitement of the shorter game than the patience-sapping slog of five-day Tests. Fourth, the influx of new players who hadn’t been singed by the soul-destroying Test surrender to England lifted the mood up.

By demolishing England, Dhoni’s team has shown that it remains among favourites for the World Cup Down Under next year. But these victories will not take away from Test problems. The solution lies in separating Test and ODI captaincy so Dhoni can focus on defending the World Cup while a new Test captain can rebuild a fresh Test team.

This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.